Tell Kinder Morgan to 'frack off'

The proposed pipeline is NOT a residential pipeline that would run gas up your street. It would be a gas super-highway across the most pristine land in the state.

The pipeline path will run through hundreds of private properties and public land, many protected from development under state law. This includes wetlands and aquifers. The process would include trenching and boring and the use of dynamite. The only benefit to the project is that Kinder Morgan gets to make money off of our safe and clean environment.

Kinder Morgan/TGP wants to bring in over 10 times the amount of gas necessary for Massachusetts markets. The intended purpose for the gas pipeline would be for gas-fired electric power generator facilities, not home heating, according to company descriptions of the project.

The company also wants this pipeline for export markets. The pipeline route is destined for foreign markets, where natural gas doubles and triples in value in Europe and Asia, respectively.

Those in the path of the proposed pipeline should not be forced to aid and abet in this dangerous and shortsighted exploitation of our nation's natural resources. It's not clean, cheap, safe or even necessary. Natural gas pipeline leaks cost consumers billions.

Most of the jobs associated with the pipeline would be temporary jobs and possibly for out-of-state employees of Kinder Morgan/TGP company.

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All residents of Massachusetts will see an increase in their electric bill. Six New England governors, in a letter to power grid operator ISO-New England, said they'd be willing to back a new wholesale tax on electricity to pay for it. This means residents will be paying for the 250-mile, 36-inch line that would cost from $2.5B to $4B.

According to massplan.org taxpayer money would pay for emergency response in the event of explosions, res or evacuations due to leaks in the natural gas infrastructure. Pipeline safety incidents are being reported with increasing frequency across the country because existing pipelines are not being maintained or monitored routinely.

The pipeline would decrease individual property values and homeowners would have difficulty selling their homes, as well as getting mortgages and affordable home insurance.

The gas companies do not and need not disclose what fracking chemicals are used in gas extraction or whether these chemicals persist in the natural gas that is transmitted via pipeline. Basically, we're left holding the bag, the environmental damage, and the cost, while Kinder Morgan/Tennessee Gas Company and their investors reap the financial rewards.

The governors of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont want to bring this new fracked gas pipeline into New England, and are willing to put ratepayer dollars on the line to get it done. They propose to slap this unnecessary project through the most environmentally sensitive parts of the state.

Associated construction costs are usually left to the pipeline companies, which charge fees to producers and utilities. The extra money from a tariff or tax could provide an incentive to pipeline companies to build more quickly.

Now Governor Patrick is stating that "neither state nor local governments will have a lot to say about the pipeline route and the permit." He said "decisions will be made at the federal regulatory level" and that he is "glad I don't have to make a decision like that."

Patrick already made his decision crystal clear back in December of 2013 when he and five other governors signed the Energy Statement Committing Region to Cooperation on Infrastructure.

In addition to the enormous trenches used to bury the pipe and disruption of the land around them, the use of herbicides and pesticides will be a routine maintenance practice.

I am deeply concerned about the long-term environmental impact the TGP will have. When powerful industries and their political allies stand in the way of environmental protection, we need media attention, the support of broad-based coalitions and an informed public.

We need to protect our commonwealth! The citizens along the proposed route need to fiercely oppose the construction of the proposed pipeline. I urge you to write town officials and permitting boards to oppose the TGP, and write to your legislators to enact bills or take other actions to prohibit the pipeline from our towns.

We have the right to safe and clean environments and future generations deserve the same opportunities we have today to enjoy our natural environments.

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